Six Years of Seperation
by Troub95
Summary: One member has been seperated from the rest of the club. What will happen when Bender decides to find out why? Will he be able to make the changes needed or will his father continue to haunt him?
1. Chapter 1

She had let her hair grow long; down below her shoulders. He didn't think that she could have looked any better than when he had first met her. He was wrong. She had the body of a woman now. She had definitely come into her own.

_What the fuck am I doing here? I am nothing but an unpleasant memory. I am nothing but a moment in time when she decided to rebel against her parents, her friends and society. She was nothing but a debutante who once decided to mix with a kid from skid row. Fuck! Why can't I just let it go? Why can't I just let her go? It's been 7 goddamn years!_

She hung up the phone with a laugh and moved to her entertainment center. He listened as the first strains of music filtered out of her window.

_Where have I heard that before? I know that song, I've heard it before. It is definitely some of her music; all that pop Flock of Seagulls new wave shit. If I'm going to listen to anything from high school it was definitely going to be either Guns-n-Roses or Iron Maiden not the shit I had to suffer though while we were dating. If it hadn't been for the hair bands, we would have never even listened to the same music. I thank Bon Jovi and Def Leppard for keeping us together as long as were. Where the fuck have I heard this song bef……the library. Goddamn library._

He sucked in his breath as she lifted the hem of her tank top pulling it off to reveal her wonderful bikini clad body.

_I don't remember her body looking like that in a bikini. Damn! My princess has definitely grown up._

He watched as she pulled the strings on her bikini top and head into another room. Drawing a deep breath, he knew it was time to pay the ferryman. John Bender had come to find out what the hell had happened to Claire Standish that Christmas, six years ago.

Claire pulled off her bikini and wrapped a towel around her body while dancing to Karla Devito singing. She let herself fall to the bed as she thought about that Saturday so many years ago.

_My God! Has it been almost eight years?! No, no that's not right. Its 1991 so it's only been six years. So many anniversaries in such a short time._

A sad smile graced her lips as she thought back to John in the closet; John falling through the library ceiling; the summer weekend they all stayed at the lake house; Allison's when Andy left for college; Brian experiencing his first kiss; the look on John's face when Allison told them about Andy and his knee; all of us welcoming him home like he had never left; that Halloween at the lake house when she and John finally…….

_No! Don't think about that! This is not going to be that kind of trip down memory lane. Brian, Augusta, Allison and Andy will be here shortly and it will not do me any good to think about what happened and what could have been. Change the music and everything will be fine. No more thinking; thinking is never good._

Claire stepped into the shower, quickly rinsing the chlorine off her body. Hurrying through her grooming process, she emerged from the bedroom dressed in a pair of denim shorts and plain white t-shirt just as the door bell rang. Glancing at the clock she realized the gang was about a half an hour early. Muttering to herself about starting the grill, she opened the door and froze.

"Hello Cherry."


	2. Chapter 2

**faux_prada - Thank you for the interest. I haven't quit decided when to end this but I think I have found a good stop. As this is my very first fiction, I would appreciate any criticism. I'm new to this realm of the internet and I am learning as I go. Thanks again and I hope you stay interested!**

John rang the door bell berating himself yet again for not just letting sleeping dogs lie. He had no idea what to say to her. He had no idea what her reaction was going to be to his sudden appearance. He was open to anything, except what happened. John watched as Claire froze and caught her breath. He watched as her eyelids fluttered and her beautiful doe eyes rolled back into her head. He reacted catching her just before her head hit the entryway tile.

_What the fuck! Definitely not what I was expecting!_

"Cherry? Cherry, honey?" John called as he carried her to the couch and set her down. "Hey, Cherry, wake up. CLAIRE!"

Claire's eyelids fluttered open and focused on John's deep brown eyes. John, uncomfortably, watched as a vast range of emotions raced across her face. This was definitely not what he was expecting.

"John?" she whispered as she raised her manicured fingers to his face. She stopped just sort of touching him but he could feel the electricity pulsing from her fingers. "John?"

"Yep, it's me Cherry. You alright?" he asked pulling away and moving to sit at the end of the couch, throwing his jacket at a chair.

"I…I'm.... I'm fine, just a little light headed." Claire stated pulling herself to a sitting position. "Wha….What are you …..How did you…"

"Why don't I get you something to drink and then we can answer all of those questions."

Claire watched as he left the living room in search of the kitchen. She still wasn't sure of what had just happened.

_Did I fall asleep at the pool? Am I suffering from heat exhaustion? Is that really John? John Bender? My John Bender?_

Claire felt her heart rise to her throat and her breath catch. Her eyes crazily ran around the room taking in her surroundings. She looked at the picture of Andy and Allison. The canvas that Allison had given her just a few years ago; the surround sound system Brian had installed just a few months ago; the picture of new born twins with Andy and Allison; Brian in his wedding tuxedo…..

The sound of someone rattling around in the kitchen brought Claire out of her daze.

_What the fuck! Seven years! Seven years and John was here! What the fuck!_

John left Claire on the couch and headed toward what he thought was the kitchen. He went straight to the sink and splashed water on his face.

_What the fuck! John, what the hell are you doing? She fucking fainted! One look at you and she faints! Goddamn it! This was not supposed to happen. What the hell am I going to do? Water! Ger her some water, make sure she is coherent and then get the fuck out. This was a huge ass mistake!_

John flipped through the cabinets until he found a glass. Filling it with water he looked up just as he turned to leave the kitchen and froze.

"What the fuck, John!" Claire shouted from the kitchen entry.

"That is just what I was thinking." John replied with that all too familiar smirk gracing his face. Claire's arms fell to her sides lightly slapping her thighs. "Look, Cherry, I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I would drop in."

"You were just in the neighborhood?" Claire repeated, her eyebrows shooting to the roots of her auburn hair. Her large brown eyes watched as John's face closed and prepared itself for battle. "You were in the neighborhood and thought you would just drop in."

John leaned against the sink and folded his arms over his chest. "Yeah."

"John, I haven't seen you in seven years and you just decide to pop in for a visit?"

"Well I couldn't very well come for a visit any sooner now could I?" he bit out, his eyes slicing through her heart.

"Don't go there, John. That was not my fault. You have no idea what happened, what was happening." Claire warned as she paled at the past, pulling a hand through her hair.

"You're right, I had no idea what was going on! How could I when you wouldn't even come see me? How could I when NO ONE would come see me!"

"John…."

"Don't! Don't "John" me! I lost my mother, my father, you and my freedom all within hours of each other and you were no where to be found! Where were you, Red? Where were you?" John yelled and was immediately sorry. He hadn't meant for this to happen; not this soon. He couldn't see straight he was so furious. He watched as Claire wrapped her arms around her middle, the anger leaving her face. "Don't do it Claire! Do you fucking do it! Don't you fucking cry! You have nothing to cry about. You went on with your pretty, petty little existence while I was rotting away. You got to enjoy being with your friends and celebrating birthdays. I got shit! So don't you fu….."

The force of her slap jerked his head around to the right. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and saw tears sliding down her face.

"What the fuck!" Brian cried.

Claire jumped and turned as John glanced to the entryway to see the rest of the club staring right back at them. John smirked as he took in the sight of Andy, Allison and Brian all staring back at him.

"Well, hail, hail the gangs all here." He replied sourly before storming out of the kitchen, avoiding Claire's hand as she reached for him.


	3. Chapter 3

Claire jumped when Brian shouted. She already regretted slapping John. She hadn't even realized what she was doing when she felt the sting of his cheek against her hand. Her mind was reeling as she heard John's voice. She could feel the panic sinking in. She tried to breath but couldn't. She reached for John as he strode by her but he jerked his arm away. She tried to take breath as John pushed through Andy, Brian and Allison, nearly knocking Allison down. She could feel herself chocking, the adrenaline running through her veins while her brain was screaming for her to calm down. Everything was being sucked into a vacuum and she couldn't understand what was going on. The only thing she knew was that she had slapped John and he had left. Through the din in her head, she heard Allison order Andy after John. She heard Allison send Brian after a wet compress while pushing him in the direction of the living room. She felt Allison take a hold of both of her arms and gently pull her to the floor, both sitting on their heels. Allison was trying to tell her something, but Claire just couldn't understand. She watched as Allison took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She did it again and again and again.

_She wants me to breath. That's it! Breathe! Breathe deeply and slowly. Deep breath in, slowly let it out. In and out. In and out. In and out._

"….in and out. That's it Claire, slowly. In and out. Good, good, good. Come on, once more. In and out. Good job." Allison coached and let out a breath herself as Claire's eyes came back into focus. "Claire? Honey? Claire?"

"I'm….I'm fine. I'm good. I'm good." Claire stared at Allison, taking in her best friend's chocolate eyes. She took in a ragged breath and grasped Allison's arms. "I'm good."

She felt some cold and wet on her neck. She jerked and looked up. Brian. Brian was here. The concern was permanently etched onto his face. Brian, sweet, sweet Brian. She gave him a shaky smile and took his hand.

"That was John." She stated falling to her ass, glancing back and forth between her friends, her eyes widening and filling with tears as she spoke. "That was John and he left. He just showed up and now he is gone. Oh, Allison! John left! Oh my God! Omigod, omigod, omigod…."

"Hey! Hey! HEY! Claire!" Allison yelled giving Claire a gentle shake.

"Allison…I'm not good." Claire whispered as she buried her head into her friends shoulder.

Allison looked at Brian while smoothing Claire's hair down her back. As huge sobs racked Clair's body, Allison also let herself fall to her butt. With a heavy sigh she glanced back at Brian.

"Fuck."

Andy was out the door almost as soon as Allison had finished speaking. He didn't know what the hell was going on but his wife had just told him to bring Bender back and that was what he was going to do.

"Bender! Bender! Man, stop!" Andy yelled as he caught up with his old school buddy. "What the fuck man?"

"That seems to be a popular expression today."

"Man, don't be an ass." John stopped and glared at Andy. "I'm just saying. Stop for a second and tell me what the hell is going on."

"What the hell is going on? Let's see…..I came to see Cherry. Cherry was not very welcoming. I take it you saw the slap? You guys showed up. I realized that I wasn't wanted, yet again, so I left. End of story." John hissed through his teeth.

"Come on man, it's not as easy as that. We could hear you guys yelling as soon as we got out of the car. Some things never change." Andy got a smirk from John for that last remark. "You were yelling about being left alone and Claire said something about you not knowing what had happened, you called her petty and then we saw the slap. What the hell were you two talking about?"

"Christmas, Sporto, Christmas." John stated turning away from Andy.

"Christmas? Awe, fuck, man. Christmas! Why, man, why?" Andy pleaded.

"I wanted to know what happened. Six years man! Six! For a year and a half everyone is happy go lucky and then when the shit hits the fan, I'm dropped quicker than a two dollar whore!"

Andy sighed deeply and rubbed his face. John watched as Andy ran though all kind of options as to what to say but he knew Andy was going to come up blank. There was nothing to say. He had been fucked and they knew it. Once it had happened, they cut their losses.

"OK, look, I don't know what and how much I should tell you. I can tell you that you do not want to walk away from this. Man, you DO NOT want to walk away." Andy stated putting his hand on John's shoulder.

"Walk away? I don't want to fucking walk away? Are you fucking kidding me? What the fuck did you four do? Skip?" John spit out, throwing Andy's hand off his shoulder. "Man, are you rich! Me, walk away? You were already at the state line before the cops even threw the cuffs on me! I didn't walk away from shit! The four of you left!"

"Yeah? Well, we learned from the master!" Andy yelled, shoving his hand in his pockets. Andy stepped away ready to just leave when he thought of Allison. Goddamn-it! She would give him hell. "Look, Allison sent me out here to get you."

"I bet she did. Bowing down to the little woman now?"

"Yeah, you jackass; like Claire didn't have you whipped before the end of detention. Besides, you have no idea how much Allison has changed, she…" Andy stopped as he realized what he had said. He looked at John, who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't know."

Andy dropped his eyes under John's glare. He was at a complete loss. With a deep sigh, he returned his gaze to John. "Look, man, why don't you come back inside. Come inside, we will get a drink and then you two can hash this all out. I have a feeling that Claire is going to be a bit….flustered and she is going to need a minute or two." John's entire face showed his shock at what Andy was saying. "Ok, Ok….I'm sure _you_ are a bit….flustered too and could also do with a minute or two. Come on man, let's go back and get a drink. Once everyone has calmed down, we can talk about this like the rational adults…..well like the adults we are."

John, unable to stop himself, smiled. He had nothing to loose. "What the fuck. Why not?"

Andy entered the kitchen and found his wife on the floor; alone. He crouched down next to her and took her beautiful face into his hands. With his blue eyes searching hers, he felt her sigh heavily. Her hands came to rest on his as he placed his lips on her forehead. How in God's name he had managed to keep her, he would never understand. But he had and he would never let her go. He didn't understand John and Claire; never had. Compared to them, he and Allison had an easy go of things. After detention, things had only gotten better. She had become his best friend. She was so easy to talk to and she always gave him the straight shit. She always stood behind him and if he was wrong, she always waited until they were alone to tell him so. They were a unified front and had been almost since that Saturday. When his knee had given out and he had to return home, she was the one that helped him through it all. Sure, Brian, Claire and Bender had been supportive, but it was Allison who showed him that he was still important. He didn't have to be the best at anything because he was already the best to her.

Sure they had had their problems, but they always seemed to muddle through despite Andy's own idiotic thinking. When Allison had the chance to spend the summer in Paris on an art internship, he had hemmed and hawed until he was sure this was going to be the thing that split them up. It was actually John who saved them. John had told Andy what a dick he was being and that Allison had not harassed Andy about anything that he had wanted to do. Andy had never been so glad that he had listened. He had Allison. He had a wonderful set of twin 5 year old boys, he had an amazingly beautiful 3 year old daughter and now he had one more on the way. But even without the children and the years of laughter, he still had Allison.

"You know I love you." He whispered against her forehead. "I love you and I will do anything for you. I'll give my life for you and our kids, Ally."

"I know and I love you too." Allison stated as she pulled away so she could gaze into his loving blue eyes. She kissed him softly and then smiled against his lips. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I don't think dying is what I need now. Right now, how about you help your 8 month pregnant wife off the floor so that we can both go take care of our psychotic friends?"

"You got it." He replied, kissing her quickly and then pulling her up.

"Thanks." Allison wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. "God, Andy, this is so not what I was expecting. I thought I was supposed to be the basket case. What the fuck!"

Brian was pacing the living room when John and Andy entered. They spoke at the same time.

"Where's Claire?"

"Where's Allison?"

Brian looked at both of them, amazed at their calm. He pointed to John first then Andy.

"Bedroom, kitchen." Brian stated then hurriedly finished to Andy "Man, she wouldn't let me help her up. I tried and she just gave me that look. You know the look right man?"

Brian watched as Andy waved him off and disappeared around the corner to the kitchen. Sighing heavily, Brian fell onto the couch wondering what the hell was going to happen next. After taking Claire to the bedroom and trying to get Allison to let him help her off the floor, he had retreated to the living room. He was starting to think of it as Switzerland. In fact he had taken to calling it The Neutral Zone. Through the window he watched Andy and John argue on the front lawn of Claire's bungalow. He only heard bits and pieces but he definitely heard Christmas and he was very glad that he had planted himself in The Neutral Zone. Brian sighed again causing John to glance at him. So much of this could be avoided if they would just talk.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"What did you just say, Bri?" John asked as he stopped pacing.

"Did I say that out loud?' Brian asked, more to himself than anyone else. "Please keep in mind that….the uh living room is the…. umm…Neutral Zone. Umm… I…. I just think….you know… that all of this….umm….fighting….could have been avoided if you two would….you know…..just…..talk."

"What the hell do you think we have been doing?"

"Umm…..yelling." Brian stated and inwardly flinched at the look on John's face. Well it looked like he was going to have to throw off his high school habits and step up to John. "Look, man, you two have been yelling at each other and not listening. I understand; it's what you and Claire do, but you two have got to dial down the tempers and open up your ears."

"What the fuck do you know?" John asked as the door bell rang.

"More than you think I do." Brian glanced at the clock and then door. Giving John a sign to hold on, he went to the door.

John watched as Brian opened the door to a petite brunette. He watched as Brian pulled the woman into his arms and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

_What the hell? I have been away, way too long._

As the couple came into the living room, John gave the girl a once over. It would appear that the dweeb had snagged his self a hottie. Long mahogany hair framed the heart shaped face of the green eyed beauty holding Brian's hand. She had curves in all the right places and she came up to Brian's shoulder.

_Damn, she is short! Hot but short and apparently she is into geeks._

"John, I would like you to meet my wife, Augusta. Augusta, this is John Bender." Brian introduced giving his wife a knowing look. Augusta took Brian's hint and quickly closed her mouth which had been hanging open since she had heard "John I would like you to meet my wife." This was the famous John Bender.

Augusta stepped forward, taking John's hand, pulling him down so she could kiss him on the cheek.

"John Bender! What a pleasure to finally meet you. Brian and the gang have told me so much about you. It truly is wonderful to finally meet the man behind all the stories. And let me just say that your picture does not do you justice." Augusta spewed out, still holding John's hand. He watched as she drew in a breath and let it out slowly.

"Yeah…..nice to meet you too." John responded slowly as he eyed the brunette warily while trying to retrieve his hand. "You married Big Bri?"

"Yep, just last summer. Well I guess it was this summer. You know the one that just passed."

"Honey, honey, calm down." Brian whispered in her ear. "You are going to be just fine." Turning to John, "She gets nervous meeting new people."

"I do not!" Augusta snapped, hitting Brian in the stomach. "I just didn't know we were going to having a family reunion with all of the mayhem and foolishness of a Jerry Springer show."

John eyed her cautiously. She knew something. "You just got here. How do you know what has been going on?"

"Woman's intuition." She replied giving John a dazzling smile.

"Augusta, honey, maybe you sh….."

"Hang on, Bri. Augusta, is it?" John asked. She nodded, her green eyes wide. "Ok, Gus, what do you mean by mayhem and foolishness?"

"Well, I mean you have been gone six years. Claire has never gotten over you. She doesn't understand why you cut off all contact. Plus the whole baby thing….."

Brian sucked in his breath sharply, his eyes glued to his wife. Augusta's eyes popped open and her hand flew to her mouth.

"What! What the fuck are you talking about?" John bellowed causing Augusta to jump and move behind Brian. "What the fuck is she talking about Brian? Claire! Claire, get out here!"

"John, you should really talk to Claire." Brian replied as Andy and Allison joined them.

"Brian! What baby, Brian? You tell me what the fuck is going on before I….."

"John, you need to calm down." Allison stated stepping in between John and Brian. "Calm down and I'll tell you what I can."

"No, Claire needs to tell me what the fuck is going on. Claire!"

"John, please! Claire is no state of mind to handle this right now!" Allison screamed.

"What? What the fuck? What the hell is going on?" John demanded his eyes jumping back and forth between Andy, Allison, Augusta and Brian. All four looked as though they had gotten caught stealing money from the church coffers. John turned his brown eyes onto his old friend. "Allison?"

"Let's sit." Allison offered as she eased herself onto the couch.

"I don't want to fucking sit!"

"John Bender, I am eight months pregnant. All day, I played referee to my 5 year old boys over a single red ball, because the blue ball wasn't good enough and then fought with my 3 year old daughter about whether or not she should go poop in the potty. I came here expecting a nice relaxing kid free night but you just had to take a walk down memory lane. I barely stopped Claire from having a full blown break down, just spent the better part of 20 minutes on a kitchen floor, and am now about 2 minutes from going into labor, now sit the fuck down! Everybody!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to those of you who have reviewed my little story. I have tried to take your suggestions to heart and improve the story. Enjoy and keep the comments coming.**

John's mouth fell open as he slowly sank onto the couch next to Allison. He watched as Brian chose the chair next to the fireplace and pulled Augusta onto his lap. Andy sank down on the couch's arm just behind his wife. John's gaze wandered over to Andy.

"I told you man, you didn't listen." Andy stated placing his hands on Allison's shoulders. "I don't mess with her when she is pregnant."

Brian coughed out a laugh, Augusta elbowed him in the ribs, Andy squeezed his wife's shoulders, Allison sighed heavily and for the second time that evening, John couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"Now," Allison began "this all goes back to that Christmas. I guess you could say it goes back to that first detention, because if it hadn't been for detention, none of this other stuff would have happened. But since I have a short supply of nerves at the moment I'm going to start with that Christmas. Andy would be back from school just before Thanksgiving." Allison gently caressed Andy's lame knee. "Brian would be home from school within the week, hiding his little secret we now know as Augusta. You, Claire and I were working or taking our classes while we waited for everyone to return. Claire had finally gotten her parents to agree to the two of you moving in together. Well, her father had consented. Do you remember that?"

"Of course I do, Sporto's knee finally gave and his dad was pissed. You guys spent the better part of that time getting Andy's records transferred to University of Chicago, while I build the ramp for the wheelchair."

"Well what you didn't know was that Claire was having a hell of a time with her mother. Mrs. Standish was constantly belittling Claire, threatening her, cussing her; you name it Mrs. Standish was all over it. She was pissed as hell that Claire had stayed in Shermer and with you. Personally I think she was more pissed at Mr. Standish for always siding with Claire. What Claire didn't know was that things between your parents and things with you and your dad were heating up. I never told her about the many times you crashed in my room because your dad's drinking was completely out of control and I never told you the abuse Claire was getting from her mom. For God knows what reason, I kept my mouth shut. I thought that all of this would blow over by the time the New Year rolled around and the two of you were out of your parent's houses. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret keeping those secrets. Some many times, I have thought that if I had just opened my mouth, I could have stopped all of this from happening." Allison finished with her eyes closed and a tear slipped down her cheek.

"Ally, none of this was your fault, none of it." Andy whispered as he kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arms around her chest.

"Oh, I know. But still……"

"Allison, I appreciate the trip down memory lane but can we get to something I don't know? I knew that Claire's mom was giving her hell; she told me."

"No, John. She may have told you some of it, but she didn't tell you that her mother was starting to get physical. Claire's dad was spending a lot of time in the city then and her mom starting taking out all of her displeasure on Claire." Allison untangled herself from her husband and with a grimace, leaned forward and Andy automatically started rubbing her lower back.

"What are you talking about? I would have seen it, I would have noticed. I saw Claire everyday and I never saw a single bruise. Even when we were…even when we were intimate, I never saw a thing that indicated anything was wrong."

"You saw it; you just believed what Claire told you." Andy stated. "You told me about the bruise on her hip, remember? Claire told you she had walked into the dining table and you believed her. I didn't catch a clue until Ally let something slip. When she did, I couldn't believe that you believed Claire. I thought that if anyone would put two and two together, it would have been you; you lived it everyday."

"I believed Claire, why wouldn't I? Her parents were abusive, at least not physically. Any time her mom was giving her grief, she just blew it off as the normal state of things. What reason would she have for lying?"

"I assumed she thought the same thing I did, just a few more weeks and she would be free. She asked me to not say anything, just as you had, and that she didn't want to burden you with anything that, in her words, 'was nothing and in a few weeks, I won't even have to deal with her anymore'. I think the two of you were just so wrapped up in getting away from your own private hells that you didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it. What would you have done?"

"I would have handled it, Allison. Her mother was nothing but a bitch and if I had known she was doing anything like that to Claire, I would have handled it." John replied, anger darkening his brown eyes.

"Claire knew you would react like that and she didn't want to take the risk of something far worse happening. The exact same reason you never told her about your dad getting worse. She had already told you that if you showed up with one more busted lip, that she was calling the cops on him. You were both trying to protect the other and for some strange reason, you were trying to protect your parents."

"Ok, fine Klepto; Claire and I had definitely struck out in the communication and overprotection departments. That still doesn't answer my question; what happened? What happened to her that she couldn't come see me while I was spending some quality time with Shermer's finest? What was so bad that caused her to leave me high and dry when we were supposed to be 'starting a new life together'?"

"John, everything came to a head while you were being taken in by the police. As soon as Claire heard that your father had finally beaten your mother into a coma and that you were now responsible for his death, she risked life and limb to get to you. She knew that you needed her. She knew that you did not intentionally … ah… kill your father. She knew that after your mom had passed out, that Mr. Bender had just turned his attentions to you. She knew all of this because as hard as you tried to hide this part of your life from her, from all of us, she knew that this would happen. She feared it; had nightmares about it. Only in her nightmares, you weren't the one going to jail; you were the one going to the morgue. She was terrified that your father would get the better of you and end up killing you. She prayed that you, that both of you, could just hold out until January." Allison drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Andy turned her face to his and she gave him a smile while shaking her head.

"Brian and I were on our way to the police department when Allison called." Andy took over, trying to mask his concern for his wife. "I dropped Brian off at Claire's house and I went to the station. Brian, in his infinite wisdom pointed out that my crutches would only get in the way if we had to suddenly pack Claire up and get her out of there. He had jumped out of the truck before I could even reply."

"Andy had given me a rundown of what had been going on and Mrs. Standish was pulling her best Joan Crawford that night; she had locked Claire in her bedroom. When I got there, Allison was trying to get past Mrs. Stanish, who was just swinging away at her with a broom. It was totally out of hand." Brian took over, speaking with care in hopes that John wouldn't loose his temper and would actually listen. "We snuck around to the back of house and threw rocks at her window to get her attention. We were trying to talk Claire into climbing down the trellis. There was a good five minutes of us going back and forth but for some reason Claire was too scared. Mrs. Standish must have heard us or she caught a clue or something because she busted into Claire's room and drug her away from the window. When Allison and I got back inside, Claire was lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs."

"Forgive me for sounding like a jackass but isn't this all just a bit too Dynasty? I mean, come on, Claire's mom wouldn't have pushed her down the stairs. That is just a little too much to believe and why didn't Claire just climb down the trellis? She had done it thousands of times." John asked a bit incredulous. John watched as his old friends stared back at him, not really knowing what to say. They were still hiding something, something that they were not comfortable in revealing. "What? What the hell was going on?"

"I was pregnant." Claire whispered from the bedroom doorway.

* * *

John's entire body went stiff. It was almost as if he hadn't heard her correctly. He turned to look at every person in the room before he focused his gaze on Claire.

"Pregnant?" He strangled.

"Yes, pregnant." Claire crossed over to John and sat on the floor at his feet. Her large brown eyes, swimming with tears, held his for a minute before continuing. "I was pregnant and I was scared that if I fell, I would hurt the baby; our baby."

"You were pregnant? Why didn't you tell me? How long had you known?" he whispered.

"I was going to tell you once we moved in together." She held up her hand when he began to interrupt her. "Let me finish, please; just hold on to your thoughts and feelings for a minute and let me finish." She could see his struggle to do as she asked. "I didn't want you to find out while you were still at home. I knew you, John; I knew what would run through your head, just as I can guess what is going on in there right now. I knew how you would react, just like I know that all you want to do right now run. Running away and anger had always been your defense mechanism, your tool to survive and I'm willing to bet that it still is. A baby would have scared the shit out of you, you would have felt trapped. All you would have thought about was how you, not we, but how _you_ now had to take care of a child. You would have knocked yourself down and automatically thought of yourself as your father; a worthless no-good drunk who got his kicks off of belittling people and crushing any chance of hope they might have. I would have never been able to reach you because you would have only seen it as you turning into your father. He would have said something to the effect that you were useless, that you would end up a bum and worthless father. And what is worse is that you would have believed him. You know I'm right."

John didn't say anything but Claire had seen the anger deflate as he listened. Her heart swelled as he took her hands into his and nodded his head which she took it as a sign to continue.

"I wanted to tell you in a safe place, a place where you would feel protected and free. I wanted to tell you in a place where nothing but possibilities would appear. I wanted to tell in a place of happiness and joy. I wanted to tell you in place where you, John; not your father, but you would be able to digest everything and realize that the baby could have been a good thing; a new start for us both. A place where you would realize you would be the best thing to ever happen to that baby." Claire reached up and brushed a tear off of his check. "You know I'm right."

John nodded again pulling in a strangled breath, his eyes holding hers as a silent understanding passed between them. John jerked Claire against him, squeezing her as if he was trying to absorb her. When he opened his eyes, John saw Brian wipe his eye and lean down to Augusta, kissing her softly on the temple. Andy was still rubbing Allison's lower back, all the while whispering words of love into her ear as tears streamed down her face. His whispers were the only sound in the room, filling the room and bringing a sense of peace to the entire group. John watched as Allison whispered something back to Andy and then nods her head.

"Ok folks, I hate to break things up here but I think that John and Claire should be able to figure the rest of this out on their own. Brian, Augusta, could you two go to the house and release our babysitter and if you would, sit with the children until my parents can get there? It appears the newest Clark is going to make his début tonight." As Andy spoke he had risen from the couch and was slowly lifting Allison to her feet. Just as she was standing, Allison felt the rush of water down her legs.

"Fuck." She whispered.

"Ok, so this may need to be a little faster than we thought." Andy's statement set the room alive. Brian and Augusta headed for the door as Claire got to her feet, stilling holding John's hand. "I hate to do ask this but I need someone to bring Allison's bag to the hospital."

"We will bring it to you once your parents arrive." Augusta yelled over her shoulder, the door slamming behind her.

"John, how about helping me get Ally to the car? Claire, will you give Dr. Conrad's service a call and let them know we are on our way?"

As if everything was finally sinking in, John's panic filled eyes shot to Andy's face. "What? What do you want me to do?"

"Help Allison and Andy to the car" Claire stated giving him a little shove. "It's going to be fine John; we have all been through this before."

"Well I'm glad to know that everyone else is so experienced, but this is my first." He hissed, placing his hand on Allison's elbow. "I wasn't here for the other ones remember?"

"Well you are going to be here for this one." Allison replied as a contraction gripped her small frame. "And if we don't hurry, you might be delivering it!"

Allison threw a smile at Claire who stifled a laugh. Grabbing her keys, she hung up the phone and headed out the door. Even with all of the emotional drama going on, she was able to smile. There was going to be another baby; another baby for everyone to love and cherish. Another life would be joining their club; The Breakfast Club. Memories of the library washed over her as she locked the front door.

_Who would have thought we would have made it this far? Six years of John missing and we are all back together again. If I had known that the detention eight years ago would have been so life changing, that I would have met John and overcome my own insecurities, I would have skipped school a lot sooner._

"May I suggest something?" She asked as John closed the passenger door to her car. John's famous smirk showed up and Claire just laughed, shaking her head. John looked at her expectantly. "I would like to suggest that we put the rest of our conversation on the back burner until after the birth. Having been through this before, I would like to enjoy myself, while Allison is screaming and cussing her way though bringing us all another baby. I promise that if you can just wait until tomorrow, I will answer anything and everything you throw at me."

"Sure, but only if I get a speaker directly into the labor room. I am pretty sure that hearing Klepto push a bowling ball out of her twat is going to be the best entertainment I've had all year."

Claire laughed and put the car into gear.

They arrived at Allison's room just as she was situating herself in the bed. Andy was rapidly talking into the phone, his back to door. Claire entered the room making a bee line for Allison; John just stopped.

_Would this have been me and Claire? Would we been as calm as they are? Would we have had more than one? Would we have made it? God! There is so much that I want to know. I'm starting to wish I hadn't agreed to Claire's suggestion. I want some answers and I want them now. I want to know what happened after she fell. Obviously, she lost the baby. I mean there wasn't anything around the apartment that screamed _I'm a mom_. How come she didn't come see me, come tell me what had happened?_

With his usual Bender determination, John walked to Claire, gripped her arm and pulled her back out into the hallway.

"I can't."

"You can't what…. Owe!" she asked, her eyes wide as she looked at his hand on her forearm.

"I can't wait. I want to know. I want to know now." He replied, his face determined. "I deserve to know now."

"Well, I'm sorry John" Claire started, pulling her arms out of his hand. He noticed that she was getting angry. He could always tell because a flush would slowly rise from her neck, kissing her cheeks and her eyebrows would shoot together. He had gauged this one wrong; again. "We agreed not thirty minutes ago to put this on hold. You nodded your head, even joked, before we left the house and agreed that this could wait. And now you want to hash out six years standing in a hospital hallway, while my best friend is in labor? I know you have questions, John. Well guess what asshole, so do I! But unlike you I am willing to wait for those answers. It's been six years; one more night is not going to hurt a damn thing!"

"You are willing to wait? Six years hasn't been long enough for you? That is so typical of you Cherry. Let the world stop turning until you are ready to deal. Everyone else has to hold their breath while the princess makes a decision; damn what anyone else wants!"

"Hey you shit! I have been dealing for six fucking years! What the hell have you been doing? You want answers? What about my questions? Can you answer my questions? Can you tell me what the hell you have been up to since you were released? Don't give me an ultimatum John; especially when it has double standards."

"Hey, guys, not here ok?" Augusta begged, popping up next to them. John flinched in surprise as Claire turned on her heel and entered Allison's hospital room.

"Where the fuck did you come from? You always sneak up on people? What the hell are you, a fucking wood sprite? You aren't even supposed to be here, you're supposed to be watching the brats."

Augusta sighed, rolled her eyes and pulled John down the hallway to a waiting area. She saw Brian step off the elevator and pointed him down the hall to Allison's room. He gave her a brief smile and disappeared.

"Mr. & Mrs. Clark arrived at the house about five minutes after us. We hopped back in the car and were about ten minutes behind all of you; Brian was just parking the car." She explained, pulling John down into a chair next to her. She looped her arm through his and began to pat it softly. "We thought it might be a good idea to be here since Andy & Allison will be a little too busy to referee you two. Who knew that we would be right? So….how have you been?"

John, shocked, looked down at the brunette, who had fixed him with another fabulous smile. "What the fuck have you been smoking and why the hell do you sound like you just stepped out of _Gone with the Wind_?"

"Oh, I don't smoke anything. This is just me, part of my Southern charm. The accent comes out a lot more when I'm nervous."

"You nervous?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well of course I am. I've never met you; heard lots, but never met. The first time I do, it's a screaming match that puts my relatives to shame and that is saying a lot, let me tell you. Believe it or not this night ranks up there with my cousin Annabeth's engagement party. It would have been fine except that Chris is from New Hampshire. You know that's north of the Mason Dixon line, right?"

John's eyebrows shot to his hairline. _Am I really having this conversation?_

"Actually the only person that had a real problem with the engagement was my Great-Great-Granddaddy Miles. Old Glory still runs deep in his veins and we usually just ignore him but he became pretty vocal. The engagement party was a splash. Everything was fine, people were mingling, eating food; and then he came out in his wheelchair with the shotgun. Annabeth was mortified! Imagine having your great-great-granddaddy act like the War for Southern Independence never ended. Poor Annabeth was so worried that Chris' family would think she was related to a bunch of backward hillbillies." Augusta rambled in one breath.

"You are crazy! Where the fuck you from?"

"Oh come on now John; that is just my family, not me. If anyone can understand that, I think it would be you." Augusta replied with her head bent, casting him a cautious gaze through her lashes. "Georgia." She stated with a defeated sigh.

"What?" John almost squeaked. _Bri has picked one crazy chick. I can't even keep up with her._

"I was born in Georgia, just outside of…."

"Augusta." He stated, as her previous words sunk in. With a slight chuckle, John moved his arm on the back of her chair and stretched his legs out to the row of chairs in front of them.

"Ok Gus, so how much of that was true?"

Augusta giggled and leaned against his side. "Almost all of it; the wheelchair give me away?"

"Nah, it was the Great-Great-Granddaddy Miles. You people from the South eat too much fried chicken and drink too many mint juleps for anybody to be a great-great anything." He replied with another chuckle and kissed the top of her head. "But I got your point Gus."

"Hey, hey, hey! What the hell are you doing, Bender! That's _my_ wife; you get your own." Brian joked drawing their attention. He was casually leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, man, I would be hard pressed to find a woman as good as Gus. She has great diversionary tactics, we could have used her in detention." Augusta's cheeks pinked as she smiled at Brian. "How's Allison?"

"Man, you don't want to know. The nurses started doing things that….I just had to leave. I don't know how Andy can stand to be in there." Brian replied as he came to sit on the other side of Augusta.

"Just wait until it's your turn." She giggled into his ear. John let out a loud chuckle. Brian paled.

* * *

"Three hours later and she is fully dilated and in active labor." Claire stated as she joined the group. "They are going to start pushing now."

"What the hell was all the stuff before active labor? Klepto really has a mouth on her."

"Didn't need that speaker, did you?" Claire smiled. "I'm gonna get some coffee. Anybody want? Four coffees coming up."

Claire headed toward the elevators and pressed the down button.

Brian slapped Bender on the arm and motioned for him to follow.

"Go" he mouthed. "Apologize."

"I didn't do anything." John mouthed back.

"Like hell! Go!" came the voiceless response.

John glared at Brian and noticed Augusta looking up at him, her face just as resolute. Muttering and cussing under his breath, John rose and went to join Claire at the elevators.

"God, I am so glad things weren't like that with us!" Brian exclaimed seconds after the doors closed on his old friends.

"Amen brother! They are exhausting. How the hell did they make it a year and a half? I swear tonight has been like a really bad movie of the week." Augusta stated as she folded herself into her husband's arms.

Pulling her tight, Brian kissed the top of her head. "Pure determination is what kept them alive. After the arrest and the miscarriage, I guess that determination just died. Claire became a ghost and Bender shut us all out. If either had just talked to the other, they would have made it, but it was like they both just fell back into their old personas. Almost like all that time together never happened and they were both just on their own; Claire to deal with the baby and Bender to deal with his arrest and death of his dad. Things really went to hell in a hand basket. It took Claire a couple of weeks to get out from under her father's thumb and John had been transferred, almost immediately, to some youth holding facility in a town called Murphysboro. After two months at the detention center, John spent another six months at another facility before his mother was finally able to tell the cops what really happened. They ended up charging John with self defense and let him go with time served. By that time, Claire's dad had taken her to Europe."

"It is just so senseless, Brian. What would have happened if her parents hadn't interfered? Do you think they would have made it?"

"If there hadn't been a baby, I would definitely say yes." He replied as he ran his hand up and down her arm. "With the baby, I have no idea. John still had so much hate against his parents and against the world. Claire was breaking through that hate but…."

"Why did he hate his mother? Did she beat him too?"

"No. I think John hated her because she had the power to remove them both from his father, but she wouldn't. He didn't understand why his mother stayed; didn't understand why she let her father beat him. He couldn't process a lot of things, but then again no one really cared about some kid whose dad let his _punishments_ get a little out of hand."

Augusta kissed his hand as she heard the venom in his last words. "Claire did. Claire cared and so did Andy and Allison and you. You all cared."

"Well it didn't help anything did it? Bender still got beat to hell, still lived with the fighting and the drugs. He always walked around waiting for the other shoe to fall. He still had to deal with all of the unfair stereotypes that society put on him, the prejudice and disgust." Brian hissed, balling his fists up. "And oh how we cared. We left him; just abandoned him. It was like him being in jail was just too much for us to bear. So we just said fuck it and moved on."

"Oh baby, no. No you didn't." Augusta whispered, almost cooing. She moved to straddle Brian's lap and took his face into her hands; his handsome, wonderful face that she had fallen in love with on sight; that lit up her world with just a smile. God how she loved him! "No baby, you didn't just move on, I know you didn't. You have all told me how you tried to track him down, how Allison and Andy drove down to Murphysboro but he refused to see them; none of you moved on, Brian. This was just the hand you all were dealt and because of their nature, their personalities, John and Claire decided to fold. Neither realized that if they had just put aside their hurt and pride and anger, that together they would have had a full house. You, Andy and Allison were just the ladies in waiting. You were there to pull them together whenever they couldn't see straight. Unfortunately, you were all dealing with life, growing up, trying to find yourselves; I think the arrest and the miscarriage hit all of you hard. Hell, the five of you weren't even out of your teens and you were dealing with crap that most adults never experience! If anyone moved on, it was John and Claire and after tonight, I think it is plain to everyone that they haven't moved on." Augusta's green eyes searched Brian's crystal blue ones.

She gave him a weak smile and rubbed her thumb across his cheek. Brian returned the smile with a weak one of his own and pulled her to him for a kiss. When their lips touched, Augusta sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their tongues met as Brian moved his hands under her jacket, rubbing her back and pulling her closer. When it ended, he kept her close in a hug, thanking whoever was listening that he had found Augusta. Laughing to himself, he heard her whisper as she played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"What? What are you laughing about?"

"I'm just wondering when the hell she is going to have that baby so we can get out of here, I could use more than just a hug and a kiss."

"Why is my Dr. Strangelove feeling a little frisky? Does he need his lab assistant…." Augusta stopped her sing-song reply as she opened her eyes and saw Claire and John standing behind them. "OH! MY! Well…."

Augusta pulled herself away from Brian who had frozen when he heard John clear his throat.

"How long have you two been standing there?" he strangled as he turned to face them.

"Since 'bad movie of the week'." Clair answered astonished. "I forgot my purse."

"She forgot her purse….and my….my wallet is in my coat….at the house." John responded at the same time, the shock obviously showing in his face. Brian rose to his feet and rounded the row of chairs to stand next to Claire.

"Guys, listen….I didn't…..I didn't know you were there….I didn't mean to….."

John held his hand up as Claire spoke. "You're fine Brian, you're fine and you are right." Claire took one of his hands and reached for Augusta's. "You are both right. John and I have a lot to discuss and I think that maybe hearing what you said will help us both keep our tempers in check. It really is fine, Bri; Augusta. It was something that we both needed to hear."

"Cherry's right Big Bri, everything is fine." He gave Augusta a mischievous grin and she automatically blushed. "So Dr. Strangelove, what exactly have you and the lovely lab assistant been working on?"


	5. Chapter 5

Damn was she tired! Allison had finally given birth about two hours ago. Everyone had expected this one to go quickly, hell it was her fourth one! However, this little Clark wasn't quit as eager to join the rest of them. It was one in the morning before Griffin Mitchell graced his parents with his presence. There was another hour wait before he would be brought back to Allison's room. Claire had cooed, cuddled and smelled the little boy with tears pricking her eyes. As she was handing Griffin over to Augusta, Claire caught John watching her. His face was distant and regretful; almost as if he was wondering what it would have been like had those tragic events not taken place. In fact she knew that was what he was thinking because she had thought the exact same thing every time she held one of Andy and Allison's children. Had it not been for the miscarriage, Claire and John's child would have been the first one born to the group. The baby hadn't lived long enough for Claire to find out its sex; she had barely realized she was pregnant before the baby was gone. But looking at Griffin, Claire knew that their baby had been a boy.

Claire broke eye contact with John as she leaned over Allison's bed to kiss her cheek. Allison's brown eyes held Claire's own and Claire nodded to Allison's unspoken question. Claire quickly kissed Allison and moved on to Andy. Sensing that it was time, John crossed to Allison and also kissed her cheek. As the group headed to the door to go their separate ways, John felt Claire slip her hand into his. She squeezed it softly and he returned the gesture. God he hoped he was ready for this! He hoped they both were and he hoped they both survived.

Claire opened her front door, almost sagging against the frame. She felt John place a hand on her elbow as if to catch her. She gave him a faint smile and walked into the house, turning on a lamp in the living room. He followed, yawning as he went. They were both exhausted. He didn't know about her, but he had been up almost thirty-six hours. Ever since he had decided, two days ago, to confront Claire, he hadn't been able to sleep and now it was definitely catching up to him. He imagined that Claire felt as shitty as he did.

_Maybe I should just go. She looks like she is about to drop and she has already been through so much tonight. Goddamnit! A baby! I was a father! And that was something that Claire has shouldered for so long…on her own. God what an ass I am! I don't deserve to be here. I don't deserve her. What good has ever come to her by staying with me? I have never been good for her. I put her through hell and never once asked wh…._

"Don't John." Claire whispered, breaking his thoughts. "Please don't. This is on both of us, not just you. Please don't beat yourself up as if I didn't do anything wrong." Another smile graced her lips. "You know for someone who was always making sure I didn't revert to my snobby ways, you sure did have a way of keeping me on a pedestal."

"That is where you should be. That's where you have always been to me. You were the only who ever believed in me."

"Then I hope it is big enough for the both of us, because you were always there for me too. And I wasn't the only one; Brian, Andy and Allison were right there with me, believing."

John nodded his head and placed his hands in pockets as Claire sank onto the sofa. Both heaved heavy sighs and jerked their gazes to one another. The smile broke out on Claire's face first but John was the first to laugh.

"So Cherry, what are you doing now? Living off the interest of your daddy's money?"

"You know you are such an ass right?" Claire responded laughing. "No, I'm not living off of Daddy; Allison and I own a gallery."

"Really!"

"Yes, really, we show a lot of her work but also run an after school program to help out junior delinquents, much like you used to be." She smiled curling her legs underneath her body as John joined her on the sofa. "So far we seem to be doing pretty good. Allison's stuff is selling well and then we also have some college students who are up and coming. The after school program at the high school has garnered a lot of interested from the students and the school board. Thanks to Brian and his connections through the natural history museum, The Art Institute is holding a benefit in three weeks to raise money for the after school program."

"That's great; you and Allison giving back to the less fortunate!" He teased but he knew that Claire could see the pride in his eyes. "You should both be really proud."

"I'm just glad I could do something useful. You know how worried I was about turning out like my mom. Even though I swore it would never happen, I was terrified it would. If it hadn't been for detention…"

"Yeah, well that detention helped us all." He stated as her voice faded. "I don't even like to speculate where we all might have ended up."

"Well what about you? What do you do?"

"You aren't going to believe it but I'm a teacher." John replied with his head bowed. He glanced up through his lashes and watched Claire's mouth fall open; he was pretty sure she had stopped breathing.

"Wow! I…I uh…wow…John… you are a teach…" Claire's eyes fell into slits as she watched his shoulder shake. "You asshole!"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it!" John laughed placing his hand on her knee. "Come on Cherry, you really think I would become a teacher; John Bender, Shermer High's most famous delinquent? I'm not an after school special. Oh my God! You should have seen your face; that was classic! Hey! That hurt!"

"Yeah, well you deserved it, bastard." Claire responded a wide smile spreading across her lips. She shook her hand as John rubbed his arm where she had punched him. "Really, John, what are you up too?"

"I own a bar in the city couple streets down from the Cook County. Had it for about a year and half now and it is finally showing a profit that I can do something with."

"I don't understand?"

"Well, up until now I just kept shoveling the profits back into the business; upgrading it, making it a classy place. It started as a hole in the wall and I just started updating some things; upgraded the bar itself, put in some wood floors. I just finished installing some new equipment and updating the kitchen that is next door. Once I get everything square, I'm going to open a little grill type place and open the whole bottom floor of the building."

"Seriously?" Claire gasped. It was completely beyond her realm of comprehension that John would have opened a business much less aspiring to own and operate a restaurant. "I had no idea you wanted to do that; you never said anything about wanting to do something like that."

"I didn't but I got tired of wandering through life. Once I came back to Chicago, I decided to get off my ass and make something of myself and the bar thing just made sense. The biggest motivation was my dad in my head; constantly saying how lousy I was. I had to prove him wrong. Bastard will never know it; but I proved him wrong and I know it."

"I always knew you would, John, you just needed time." She smiled her brown eyes shining with unspoken admiration. "Where were you before you came back?"

"Here and there really; just roaming. I didn't really have anything to bring me back here once I got out of hell hole, so I just kept moving. I spent some time in Springfield and from there I went to Omaha, Bismarck, Mankato and then Milwaukee. Some old friends caught up with me in Milwaukee and told me about my mom passing. That really pissed me off, so I came back to make some kind of peace with her. After everything that she and that bastard put me through, even though I hated her almost as much as I hated him, I had to come home and deal with it." He finished his voice raw with emotion. Claire's eyes filled with sympathy and she quickly looked away, knowing that John would see it as pity. She was at a loss for words. Her heart screamed to take him in her arms and at least make a feeble attempt to comfort him while her brain warned that it would be the last thing John would accept. She listened as he drew several deep breaths before turning her gaze back to his. "Took me forever to find out where she was and I got to tell you that the state really does well for you once you are dead. She must have been hording money somewhere because she got herself a nice little headstone over at St. Peter's on Madison Street. I heard that she was really wacked out at the end."

"She died from AIDS, John. Well actually it was pneumonia but AIDS is what caused it all." Claire whispered.

"What?" he gasped softly and then grabbed her arm jerking her closer to his face, his eyes angrily piercing her own. "How do you know that, Claire, how do you know what happened to my mother?"

Claire opened her mouth but couldn't find the words to explain. She felt his grip on her arm, could see the rage in his eyes; feel his breath on her face. Bringing her free hand up to cover the one her arm, she desperately tried to think of what to say. "John, I just…"

"Damnit, Claire, how the fuck do you know? How do you know more than me? What the fuck did you do?" His voice slid over her body like icy water bringing fear to her eyes. Claire's mind scrambled as his anger boiled over. John roughly pushed her back on the couch and jumped to his feet. He paced in front of her, a litany of curses rushing from his mouth, before moving to stand over her his finger inches from her chin. "You just couldn't leave it alone could you? You just had to step in and be self-righteous! What the fuck possessed you? What in God's name were you thinking?"

"I thought I was…"

"No Claire, you didn't think!" His words snapped off her reply. "I don't know what the fuck was running through your mind…and I don't want to know. I can't fucking believe this! You of all people…you knew how much I hated…you knew what she and that bastard did to me! I can't…" His hands ran through his hair, his eyes never leaving hers, his mind racing with how to react. "You didn't think! I gotta get…I've got to…"

John backed away front her, his hands held out at his sides. Claire was too shocked to move as it registered what he was doing. She watched as he backed out of her living room and turned to leave. His sudden anger had stunned her into immobility and even as she watched him gather his coat, she couldn't bring herself to stop him. Claire's eyes filled with tears as she turned to where he had had her arm in a vice grip. She heard the door open and slam close as she felt a tear hit her arm near his red hand print.

_He's leaving. He's leaving again! Get off your ass and stop him! Go!_

Claire's thoughts finally registered when she heard a car door slam. She raced out of the house as John started the engine. Running across her small lawn she screamed his name as he raced down her street; raced away from her. Claire screamed his name again and fell to her knees, sobs racking her body. He was gone.

* * *

"Hey, man, you want me to lock up? You look beat." Alec asked as he finished wiping down the bar.

"No, man I got it." John replied taking a till out of the cash register. "Did you do good tonight?"

"Please, with that gaggle of chicks and these good looks? Man, I raked the tips in, plus I got the blonde and the red head's numbers. They said they were looking for someone to give them that little nudge for a threesome." Alec answered wiggling his brows. "They were hot! How about I give them a call and see if they are still wanting to party?"

"No thanks, I'm going to count this till, lock the safe and then head upstairs. I have a bed that is screaming my name."

"I bet that red head wouldn't mind joining you."

"No thanks, Alec, I'm done with red heads." John responded throwing a bar towel at the blonde haired bartender. "Don't worry about stocking the second cooler, I'll get it tomorrow. Finish up and head out."

"Sure thing, need me tomorrow? I can help out with the refinishing."

John smiled at Alec, remembering when he himself was only after the one night stand. _God, I make myself sound ancient! It's not like my party days are that far gone, I'm only twenty-eight!_ "Don't worry about it, man, I think I'm going to take a look at that freezer in the kitchen. Now quit running out the clock and get the hell out of here."

John laughed to himself as he walked to his office. He was so looking forward to getting upstairs to his bed. He had a bottle of Jack Daniels waiting and he was determined to get some sleep tonight, no matter how he had to go about it.

_Three fucking weeks! Three fucking weeks without sleep and it's all because of her. Not gonna go there, John. The red head is out of the picture. Suck it up, move on and get some fucking sleep!_ John sighed and fell into his desk chair. _God, has it really been three weeks? I can't believe what an ass I was. I didn't even let her explain, just acted like my usual jerk self and took off. God, I am such an ass! What the fuck was she thinking; my mother? I know what she was thinking; bastard. She was thinking about me. I got all pissed off and ran when she was just thinking about me; and she had no reason to even care. I'd been gone for three years, my mother dies alone and all Claire did was think about me. She only thought about how I would feel if no one had taken care of my mother. I am such a fucker!_

John stopped his thoughts as he heard Alec's voice. He realized he was on his third round of counting the same set of twenties, when he tossed the money down in disgust. John grabbed the till and locked in the safe, promising himself he would come down in the morning and finish that night's receipts. Just as his hand touched the light switch, Alec's face came around the threshold.

"What now?"

"There is someone here to see you."

"Yeah, well tell them we are closed and to come back on Tuesday. I'm fuckin' beat and I don't feel like messing with anybody."

"Ah, I don't think you are going to want to do that man." Alec answered raising his eyebrows. "And I don't think you are done with red heads."

John eyebrows shot together until Alec's statement sunk in, then his eyes shot open. _She's here! What the fuck is she doing here?_

"Dude, how come you never told me about a Claire? What kind of name is that anyway?"

"It's a family name." John whispered as he slowly made his way down the hallway back to the bar.

"Yeah, maybe that's why she looks like she could by this whole block and kick you out on your ass. Decked out to the nines and fucking hot; where the hell did you meet her?" Alec whispered.

John poked his head around the corner "High school."

She was here and Alec was right, she was fucking hot. She had her profile to them as she took in her surroundings. She was dressed in what appeared to be a sleeveless, black velvet gown and John could feel his mouth salivating; then she turned her back to him and he almost dropped to his knees. John felt Alec's hand grab his shoulder as his own eyes left her black heels and ran up her body. The dress slightly flared as she turned, revealing her stocking clad ankles. John finally understood why all those nineteenth century candy-asses go so hot and bothered over a little ankle. But it wasn't the ankle that did him in, it was her back. The dress was held up by nothing but four straps criss-crossing around her back. Her creamy skin was exposed to his eyes and from this distance; he could even make out a few of her freckles. Her hair was bound up in a mass of curls, surrounding her crown like a halo and exposing her neck. _God, I fucking love her neck!_

"Man, if you don't want to deal with her, let me…please. I'll give you those phone numbers." Alec begged.

"Get the fuck out of here and keep your eyes on the floor as you are leaving." John hissed, giving Alec a shove. "I mean it man, one look and I'll dock you a day's pay."

Alec snickered, catching Claire's attention and John's death glare.

"Okay…gotta go." Alec whispered, running behind the bar to grab his jacket. "I'll holler at you later man."

John watched the kid head toward the door, catching Alec's backward glance at Claire. _I'll fucking kill him._ Claire cleared her throat drawing John's eyes back to her. He headed towards the bar door.

"You lost? I believe the ball is down the street." He stated his hand on the door.

"So that's how we are going to play it." Claire murmured then walked to the bar dropping her clutch and wrap on its shiny surface. "I got tired of all those people falling at my feet, so I left; decided I needed something a little stronger than champagne. So, barkeep, how about setting me up?"

John eyed her for a minute, his eyes running down her body before returning to her face. _God, she is sexy!_ _I thought the bikini was good? It's got nothing compared to this dress! Everything covered, except the back and curves. What the fuck am I going to do? _He turned, locked the door and turned off the outside lights before making his way to the other side of the bar. "So what is your poison?"

"Do you really ask people like that?" her face incredulous.

"No, but I'm just keeping up the banter you started." John hissed, automatically biting his tongue. _Fucker! What the hell is wrong with you?_

"I didn't sta…" Claire stopped, released a heavy sigh and glared at him. "Don Eduardo Silver."

John cocked an eyebrow, turned and grabbed the bottle of tequila. "Pretty expensive tastes, Princess."

"I believe I'm good for it." She replied taking the glass from his hand, her manicured nails grazing his skin. Claire knocked back the two fingers and nodded for another.

"You know if you are going to shoot it like that, you might want to go with Cuervo. This stuff isn't made for knocking them down."

"I have a daddy, thank you."

"It's your money." John replied pouring her another shot. He watched as she sipped this one all the time wondering what was going on in that pretty head of hers. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I was at that fund raiser I told you about, remember? I had just freed a wonderfully delicious man, who by the way is also named John, I had just freed him of a check for twenty thousand dollars, and decided I needed a drink; then I thought "Hmmm, wonder what Bender is up to?' and I remembered you said something about a bar not far from Cook County Hospital. I figured that while you might have waited six years, three weeks was probably long enough before we spoke again. I got in the car and headed over thinking we could knock back a couple of drinks, maybe smoke a joint and just shoot the shit about our glory days." Claire icily remarked as she sat and crossed her legs over one another, putting her feet on the stool next to her. John watched her movements and gritted his teeth as her full skirt slipped up to her knees.

_I'm fucked. Not only is she using every trick she knows, she called me Bender. She is pissed_

Claire reached across the bar and grabbed a handful of cherries before leaning back on her stool. "So how have you been?"

John watched as she popped a cherry into her mouth and pulled the stem off. _She definitely has the upper hand here. Think damnit!_ Her red lacquered fingers spun the stem as she swallowed and smiled sweetly at him; then she popped the stem in her mouth, swirled her tongue around for a few seconds and removed it, now tied in a knot. _Fuck!_ John swallowed hard and then cleared his throat. "Cherry…"

"Do Not Fucking Call Me That!" Claire hissed standing and throwing a cherry at him. "You no longer have the right to call me that, you bastard. No more Cherry, no more Princess, no more Sweets! You have lost that privilege!"

"Okay, Claire" John breathed. "Claire, what are you doing here?"

"Don't! You don't get to ask any questions either. You did nothing but throw questions at me three weeks ago and then didn't give me a chance to answer them. Well, I'm going to answer them now, Asshole! You are going to get your fucking answers!" Claire yelled throwing a cherry at him with the end of each statement. "Why did I bury your mother, you goddamn bastard? I believe that was your question, wasn't it? Why couldn't I just stay out of it? Why couldn't I just stifle my self-righteousness and let the hospital take care of your mother? You want to know why, you fucker? Because I loved you! Because you were gone! You just left and didn't let anyone know where you were going! And I knew you, you fucker, I knew that you would let guilt eat you alive when you came back and found your mother dead. You would let the resentment destroy you because even in death, you had failed. I did it because I couldn't stand to see that happen. I knew you would be back and I couldn't let that happen. I did it because even though you left me, I love you, you bastard, I fucking love you."

John was around the bar the second time she had called him fucker and had Claire in his arms. Her sobs racked both of them as they slid to the floor, her tears staining her beautiful face. John took her face in his hands, his thumbs wiping her tears away, listening to her struggle to breathe. _Struggle to breathe? What the fuck!_

"Claire! Claire! What is wrong? What?"

Claire pulled away desperately trying to calm herself down, her hand wildly fanning herself. She could see Allison's face, Allison's eyes staring intensely at her own, Allison's lips moving, chanting over and over._ Breathe, Claire, breathe, in and out, in and out, in and out._

John, flabbergasted, witnessed the range of emotions run across her face; hurt, fear, panic, realization and finally calm. _What the fuck just happened?_

"Claire, what's going on? Are you alright?"

She breathed in and out, deeply, a few more times before answering. "Panic attack."

"What? Panic attack? Since when; what the hell happened to…"

"Boyfriend killing his father, miscarriage and abandonment by said boyfriend." She whispered, closing her eyes and concentrating on her breathing. "Give me just a second."

"Cla…" her fingers slapped up against his lips and stayed there preventing any further response from him. Finally control of herself, Claire opened her eyes and gave John a weak smile, but did not remove her hand.

"John, I had a sort of breakdown six years ago. When everything happened, I lost it. Every once in a while, especially whenever I am…emotional or…shocked, and I mean really shocked, I get a panic attack. Since you have reentered my life, I have had two; once when you showed up and just now. So before we get into anything else, and trust me _we are_ going to get into this, you have got to promise me that you are not going to fly off the handle and take off again. You have to promise me that we are going to handle this in a calm, adult…you have to promise me that we are going to handle this. I am not giving you an ultimatum, but if you can't do that, then I am going to have to leave."

John nodded his head and Claire let her fingers slip away from his lips.

"Cherry, sorry… Claire you did give me an ultimatum." He whispered pulling her into a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine now but I could use that tequila." She answered as she pulled away, rose up on her knees and grabbed the glass off the bar top.


	6. Chapter 6

"John, this place is nice" Claire stated as he lead her into his loft.

"What? It's a construction zone."

"I can see that, but I can also see the bones and this place is going to be very sweet when your are finished. If the bar is any indication as to what this loft is going to look like, you have a gem on your hands. You should see about buying the whole building. You could turn all the space into other lofts or smaller apartments; people will eat this up."

John smiled to himself as Claire took in her surroundings, her eyes picking out all of the details that he had seen before ransoming his life for it. "I did buy the whole thing, well mortgaged really, but either way, I'm stuck with it and in debt up to my ass."

Surprised, Claire's wide brown eyes held his. "You didn't! Really? Wow, you do realize whatyou have here, don't you?"

"No Cherry, I don't but I decided what the hell and bought it anyway" his sarcastic reply brought a smile to her face. "Actually I plan on doing just what you said, turning a couple of floors into apartments and if I can swing it, the top two will be lofts. With the bard and soon the restaurant doing well, I should be able to get it all together within the next years."

"When did you turn into Donald Trump?" she asked lazily dropping onto his leather sofa.

"I need better hair to be that man" John joked replenishing her glass with two more fingers of tequila and then poured himself some whiskey. He watched as she stared off into space, slowly pulling pins out of her hair. With the last one removed, John handed her the glass. "Where did you go Cherry?"

"Oh, I was just thinking of some of the things that my father, and yours, said about you, and I realized that you have given them the ultimate 'fuck you'" she took a sip and combed her fingers through her red locks "I hope you are proud of your John; you should be."

"I didn't do anything groundbreaking; I just jumped on the 'Make Chicago Beautiful' campaign and got lucky."

Claire gave him a soft smile, her eyes unreadable to him. John reached out and flipped a lock of hair over her shoulder and leaned forward. Their lips met in a quick gentle kiss and was over almost before it began.

"This isn't right; there is too much that needs to be said before either of us even thinks of this."

"I think that ship has sailed because I'm pretty sure that even with all the commotion, I haven't stopped thinking about kissing you since you came back" her words caused him to sit up straight. "Don't be surprised John, it's not out of the realm of possibilities that I still find you attractive. I was attracted to you the first time you called me 'Sweets' and I guess you just kind of stuck to me. In face I don't know of on day in the past eight years where you have not crossed my mind."

"And you don't think that sleeping together wouldn't just screw things up right now?" he asked completely stunned.

Claire's delicate laughter filled the room, her manicured hands cupping his face. "John, you really are a stupid, arrogant man aren't you? I never said I was going to sleep with you, you nitwit. I want to but that doesn't mean I will. Either years ago, I took a chance on you and loved every minute of the time we spent together; then you left and it crushed me. I can't open myself up to that again, even if it is only sex, just to have you take off."

"I'm not going anywhere Claire; I came looking for you remember" he bit back, her word stinging his heart.

"Yes, you did, but answer me this; how long were you in Chicago before you decided to look me up?"

"I getyour point and even my reasons do not excuse why I waited" he replied actually shocked that he wasn't angry at her for pointing out the obvious. "You know why though right?"

"Of course; you waited because you didn't want to come to me empty handed, you wanted to be able to proved that you were something. And now I'm guessing that you just remembered that you never had to proved anything to me, you just had to be here. Don't worry about it John, habits are hard to break; but you understand why I feel the need to protect myself don't you? You understand that I just can't sweep the past six years under the table; I need some closure. Regardless of what the future brings, I need to end that chapter in my life. We have been dancing around the two most important topics of our lives and I think it's time to leave the dance floor."

"I agree."

"Well then, let me freshen our drinks while I try to figure out how to get my heart under control. It's been fluttering like a butterfly on acid since you said you weren't going anywhere."

"Let me finish locking up downstairs and I'll take the tripped out butterflies as a good sign. Believe me, Claire, I'm not going anywhere." he replied before leaving her on the sofa. As he went through the nightly ritual, he thought about everything Claire had said since she had walked into the bar. He was feeling like an ass again. He had jumped to every conclusion except the right one, which was par for the course for him. He just wasn't sure how many more times Claire would deal with him fucking up. He meant it when he said he wasn't going anywhere and he meant to have Claire in his life, under whatever restrictions she wanted. If she wanted to keep her distance and not become involved again, he would respect her wishes; he wouldn't like it, but he would respect it. If she wanted to remain platonic friends, he was good with that too. What he was really counting on was Claire wanting to explore their relationship as adults, without all of the drama that their parents had contributed. That is what he wanted; he wanted Claire and he wanted all of her. He wanted to bind her to himself, spend long evenings together, get to know her all over again. Hell, he even wanted to make more babies with her and children was something that John had never considered until two weeks ago. He didn't know how or what to do, but he knew that he would do anything to get her back.

* * *

"Have you seen anybody since Griffin was born" she asked when he rejoined her.

"No, I haven't; I had a lot of thinking to do and I didn't want any friendly influence. That was some night wasn't it?" he asked, joining her.

"Definitely not what I was expecting when I woke up that morning." She replied turning to face him. She pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin as he stretched his legs out before him and laid his head back on the sofa. Neither spoke; the only sound was their soft breathing. Claire turned her head to look out into the living room. "Andy and Allison did it again."

"Yeah," John replied with a smirk and a chuckle. "He is definitely a Clark. Did you see how he held onto my finger? Tight grip on that one; gonna give Sporto a run for his money."

They were both silent as each remembered the new addition. Claire felt a single tear escape before John spoke.

"Claire? Do you…did you know…I mean…"

"No." she answered with a hitch in her voice. She felt his hand cradle the back of her head and then his fingers slide through the red tresses. Claire turned to face him as another tear slid down. _God, I don't think I can do this. _"It was too soon, too early. I was barely ten weeks and I had known a little longer than a week that I was even pregnant."

John nodded and looked away from her anguish. He wasn't sure how to respond. He wanted to take her in his arms; he wanted her to hold him. He wanted to be able to turn back the clock and make things different.

"It was a boy though."

"How…how do you know?" he whispered turning back.

"Because…" she choked "because that is…" she had to get this out, she was tired of crying. Claire took a deep calming breath and briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them she watched as tear ran down John's cheek. She took his face in her hand and took another deep breath. "I knew it was a boy because that is what I wanted and you always gave me what I wanted, John. You always gave me…"

Her body exploded as his mouth roughly covered her own. The heat that covered her was an inferno compared to the chaste kiss they had shared earlier. She felt his hand in her hair as he pulled her close. The desire, Claire was sure so no longer possessed, shot through her skin, leaving every inch tingling. Claire gasped as John's hand tightened almost painfully in her hair. His tongue plunged in, dancing with hers, sending a whole new set of shock waves through her system. His kiss was harsh and hot as if he could force her to let him back into her life. What John didn't realize what that Claire had no choice but to let him back in; he was back in her life the minute she had opened her front door.

Claire moaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck trying to tell him with her kiss what she wasn't sure she could say out loud. She ran her hands down his back, feeling each muscle flex, exciting her even more. All thoughts of keeping sex off the table dashed out her mind as her hands reached the hem and began to pull. She had to touch him, had to touch his skin, feel the heat. She moaned again when her fingertips touched his back. Her hands ran up the length of his back and back down again, her nails lightly grazing his skin. Craving more she slid her hands to his chest, reveling in the feel of his body. Her hand grazed his nipple and she heard him gasp and then she was suddenly alone. John had pushed her away and was now sitting on the floor. Claire stared at him as she ran the back of her hand over her swollen lips, confusion on her face masking her hurt. Breathing heavily, they watched each other, both surprised at the energy that had almost consumed them. She watched as confusion, anger, agony and worthlessness replaced desire on John face in the span of a second; watched as he struggled and she realized there was nothing she could do. It was the same war he had been waging with himself since before they had met. He was still questioning his own worth, not to her but more importantly to his father.

"John?" She whispered as he dropped his gaze.

"Don't…don't Claire…just give me a minute" his words came out much harsher than he had wanted. Lifting his eyes to her he drew a deep breath and tried to control his breathing. He wasn't sure if it had been her response or his own thoughts that had sucked the air out of his lungs but John had his money on Cherry.

_Goddamnit! What the fuck had just happened? I only wanted to know about the baby and suddenly I'm attacking her. When she had said…did she really say that? That I had always…had I really? No, no, no, no, no, of course I hadn't. The only thing I was ever able to give her was a hard time…well apparently that and a baby. A boy…she was sure it was a boy because that is what she wanted. She wanted a boy…his boy. God! She has no idea what would have happened. If the baby had survived, he would have had a miserable childhood. I would have been a shitty father, no better than my own. Claire would have put up with it as long as she could but she would have left. She would have left and taken my son with her. No one could live with me. No one could love me…not like that. I'm just what my dad said I was…worthless. I am my dad._

"NO! GODDAMMIT, NO!"

John jerked out of his thoughts as Claire hurled herself on top of him. She straddled his waist as she slapped his chest. "No John! I won't let you! I won't let you continue down this road! You. Are. Not. Your. Father!" she blasted each word at him as she twisted his shirt in her fist. "He was a worthless coward of a man! He couldn't hold a candle to you! He wasn't worth the tears you spilled over him…not worth the time you spent in jail…not worth the years you agonized over him. You are not him! You have done some really fucked up things in the past but you are not him! Do you understand me, John? You are not that son-of-a-bitch!"

John clamped Claire's hands and rolled forward so that he was now straddling her waist; her hands firmly held above her head.

"Jesus Christ Claire! What the hell?"

"I know you John; I know what you were thinking. Can't you get it through your head that I know you? I know your thoughts and your feelings and six years of being apart does not change that. I know that the tough guy bravado in high school was just to mask your pain and insecurities. I know that you kissed me now because you did not know what to say, didn't know how to respond to the baby. Action and sarcasm are your weapons; you can't or won't vocalize so you hit back. Don't you get it? I know you!" Claire yelled her own emotions now completely spent. She turned her head and let the tears freely flow. "Why does it have to be this hard John? Why can't you just know that I accept and love you as you are? Why can't you just let your father go? The man is dead. Why are you going to let him destroy what little thread of hope we didn't destroy six years ago? Why can't you just let me in, let me love you?"

Shocked, John released her arms and rolled off of her onto his back. Claire covered her face, sobbing into her hands, curling into a ball. He felt each sob that racked her body her questions screaming in his head.

_I don't know what to do, what to say, what to feel. Nobody has ever gone off on me before, not like that. Fuck! I don't know what to say. What the hell does she want from me!_

He realized then, at that very moment what Claire had been doing all along. He realized how eight years ago, in that library, that Claire had thought he was worthy; worthy of himself. She had been trying to teach him that he wasn't his father and he had been too stubborn to believe her. Claire had continually put herself out into his range of fire, into his anger, into his sarcasm, into his hateful responses just to prove that he was John. Not Bender the delinquent, not Bender the criminal, not Bender the school fuck-up, not Bender the mistake, not Bender the burner; just John. And she loved him. Augusta's word echoed in his head.

_ This was just the hand you all were dealt and because of their nature, their personalities, John and Claire decided to fold. Neither realized that if they had just put aside their hurt and pride and anger that together they would have had a full house._

"Claire, Gus is right. Brian is right. You are right! Claire…Cherry, baby, please…please stop…please stop crying." John pleaded as he pulled her onto his lap. "Come one Princess, please stop…you are right." John rubbed her back as her sobs subsided and just as he thought they would be able to talk, he felt her shoulders shaking. _What the hell? Is she…she's laughing!_

"Want to share?" John asked, letting the sound of her laughter trickle over his ears.

"It only took eight years but you finally said it. You finally said I was right." Claire replied, her voice hoarse.

"Out of everything that has happened over the past three weeks, you choose that to focus on?"

"I'm very sure that somewhere along the way I picked that up from you." She chuckled clearing her throat.

"Let's get you something to drink." John crawled over to the couch's side table and grabbed his glass of whiskey. He returned to find Claire stretched out on the floor, on her back with her hair flowing out behind her; the velvet of her dress enhancing her pale skin. He watched as she took a deep calming breath, her body shuddering as she exhaled. A faint smile touched her lips as she placed a hand on her abdomen. "You are beautiful, Cherry."

She deepened her smile and rose to a sitting position. As he handed her the drink, John sunk to the floor. He watched as Claire sniffed her glass before taking a large swallow, watched her face scrunch together as she forced the whiskey down, the sexy O she made as she as she expelled her breath, the tip of her tongue snaking out to lick her lips…God she was sexy!

"You keep saying stuff like that and I'm going to think I'm better than everyone."

"Sorry, I honestly didn't realize I said that out loud."

"Amazing how you have only spent one day with Brian and he has already rubbed off on you. He has developed a tendency to unknowingly speak his thoughts. It made his engagement party very entertaining."

"Probably praying that great-great-granddaddy-rebel-flag wouldn't make an appearance."

"Oh my God, how did you know?"

"Gus is an ace diversionist." A faint smile graced his lips as Claire took another swallow of liquor. "You ready to do this?"

"Shall I go first?" she asked. When he didn't respond, Claire closed her eyes. She was really dreading this. John's brown eyes searched her face and in that moment he decided that he didn't need to know, not if it was going to be this hard on her. He placed his hand on her cheek causing her eyes to flutter open.

"Do you remember the garage I worked at?" he asked, dropping his hand and gaze to his lap. "Andy's uncle owned it and Andy got me the job? Well, I had been saving most of my paycheck for us. The majority of it was going to the "freedom fund" for the apartment but I was holding some back each week for your Christmas present. I had it all picked out. I knew it wouldn't do you justice but I was positive that you would love it. It was a ring. Nothing much, found it at the pawn shop on Main but I couldn't propose to you without a ring" John refused to look at Claire, but he heard her gasp. "I had been hiding the money in my mattress. Every week, I'd take fifty bucks, shove it in the mattress and then head out to screw around with the gang. It took me about four months but I finally had enough to get that ring" John chanced a glance at Claire and saw a tear run down her cheek. "Jesus Christ Claire! I have made you cry all damn day!"

"I'm sorry. I never thought I would see you again! My prayers are answered and you are answering all my questions. All in all, it's been a pretty emotional three weeks, so cut me some slack."

"Sorry, I just don't like to see you cry" John grabbed her glass and tossed the rest of the whiskey back. He wasn't sure how to go on, so he decided on the facts. Claire's eyes slightly widen as she watched John's transformation; the mask was back.

"Ok! So I finally had the money. We were all supposed to get together the night before Allison and Andy left with his family to visit relatives. I figured I would ask you after everybody broke up for the night. I left work and ran home to shower and grab the cash. When I got home I pulled out the cash and put it in my jacket pocket before jumping in the shower. What I didn't realize…didn't even notice was that both my parents were home. I mean Claire, I was on cloud nine. I had you, I had the money for the ring, we were going to be moving in together in a matter of weeks, we had the gang; what could possibly go wrong! I should have known the Bender luck would have kicked in…" John held up his hands when she started to object. "Sorry Princess, you are going to have to give me some time to get used to the 'new me'. As you are well aware, sharing has never been my strong point."

"When I got out of the shower I heard them. They were mumbling to each other and from what I could gather, they were just outside of my room. The next thing I remember is my dad whaling on my mother. Apparently they were having an argument over what to do with my money. You can guess that neither one was looking to invest it anywhere. I pulled my dad off of her before he could land another blow to her face. As was the tradition in my family, whoever interrupts the pounder became the pounded. Funny enough, you know what my mother was doing? The woman who gave birth to me? The woman who supposedly cared and comforted me throughout my childhood? The bitch was on her hands and knees grabbing the money off the floor."

Claire's mouth dropped open and she automatically reached for him. In a split second, John knocked her hand down, turned and scooted away from her, keeping her at arm's length. He was at battle with himself, his memories and his emotions. The rage against his father and the betrayal of his mother came surging back over him. He could feel it just as clearly as the night it happened.

He felt Claire leave them room. Funny enough he thought of how her departure would have, should have, pissed him off. That hearing his story should have turned her off and reject him. It was amazing to him how over the past twenty-four hours he had come to the realization that Claire wouldn't leave him. That realization washed over him calming his entire body; she wasn't going to leave. She would not abandon him and he was not his father. He felt something against his shoulder. Reaching up he felt the glass she was holding against him.

"Trust me; one of us is going to need this" Claire took her position in front of him and placed her hands on his knees. "Are you okay? We don't have to do this all at once."

"I'm good Cherry; you're here so I'm good" John took a swallow and leaned over to give her a brief kiss. "Well there we were in all of our Bender glory; Dad holding me against the wall by my throat as he punched my kidney and dear old Mom on her hands and knees taking my ring money. I was finally able to knock my dad off of me and that is when he noticed his wife scooping up all of my money. Dad jumped on her like white on rice. I wasn't completely coherent and once I came around, Dad had stopped smashing her face and had taken to choking her. God only know why but I rushed him knocking him down the hall, just in front of the stairs. He was so drunk he was having trouble getting up. His right foot slipped and in his drunkenness he couldn't regain his balance; broke his neck on the way down. Neighbors had called the cops who in their infinite wisdom decided that I needed jail more than I needed a doctor. Mom was taken to the hospital; was in a coma for about a month and had her jaw wired shut for about two months. All the while I was waiting in a 6x10 cell. One week after his death, I was packed up and sent to our great state's version of Boy's Town."

"Allison wrote me and said that you were released six or seven months after that night but had no idea where you were."

"It was seven months, 4 days, 19 hours and 36 minutes" John bit out slightly pissed that his own friends didn't even know how long he had been locked up. "What do you mean wrote you? Where the hell were you?"

"Europe" Claire whispered and received the expected smirk. "I realize that you are thinking that I was living it up while you were rotting in jail, but I can assure you that it wasn't like that at all. My father made me go. I was never as strong as you John. I had just lost a baby. I hadn't seen or heard from Allison, Brian or Andy. And most importantly, I hadn't heard from you. I had no idea what had happened at your house" she sighed, dropped her head and bit her lip. "I was never as strong as you John. You were my strength and you never came."

John eyed her critically, folded his arms and nodded his head. Claire was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of déjà vu. They were back in the library, all of them sitting on the balcony, all of them realizing that while they were all different, they were really the same. John was listening to her talk about her home life, how she was a pawn, how she was always a follower…how she was weak.

"You hungry?" Claire's head jerked up to find John standing with his hand reaching out to her. "I can probably find something in the kitchen?"

"But…don't you…"

"I'm hungry and you are about to drop. How about I scramble us up some eggs and we let the past stay in the past for a little while longer" he interrupted pulling her to her feet. His hands rested on her waist as he stared into her eyes. "Let's take a break Cherry. You are emotionally spent and I'm….well I guess I feel about the same."

Claire tried to take it in; his change of attitude. She held his gaze and again bit down on her lip.

_A break? He wants to take a break?_

"You know something Cherry? You biting your lip is still as sexy now as it was then; one big ass turn on."

A huge smile broke across her face allowing some of the concern to leave her eyes. He was giving her a way out. He was letting her be weak…at least for the time being.

"Why are you still calling me Cherry? If memory serves, you took care of that on Halloween the year we met." She asked as they entered the kitchen.

"You _were_ a cherry." He replied opening the fridge.

"But I'm not anymore, haven't been since Halloween." She countered boosting herself onto the counter.

"There was only one thing that changed that Halloween." He grinned cracking an egg into the bowl. "You became _my_ Cherry."

Claire rolled her eyes and turned desperately trying to stop the flutter in her stomach. She willed herself not to think of that thread that hadn't been destroyed. She commanded her brain to not bring up the fact that John had come back, that he hadn't thrown her out tonight, that he was standing in his kitchen cooking her some eggs. She refused to get her hopes up especially since he had made no comment about her still loving him. Every fiber of her body was screaming for him while every cell in her brain was telling her to restrain herself and take things slowly; protect her heart. Claire failed; but then again, she was weak.


	7. Chapter 7

"I guess it's my turn now isn't it?" Claire asked, taking a sip of coffee.

They had reconvened in John's living room. Claire had kicked off her heels, pulled her knees to her chest, her dress pooling at her feet on the sofa. John, opting for the matching oversized club chair, felt his chest tighten as he threw his legs over the arm of the chair.

"It can wait, like you said earlier, this doesn't all have to happen in one night. I'm not planning on taking off and from what I figure and from what I have been told, you are pretty much stuck where you are as well."

"That doesn't seem very fair John. I mean, you told me all about your dad…"

"Well you told me about my mom, so we are even."

"Don't you want to know; don't you even care?" Claire asked her cheeks flushing with anger and disbelief.

"Simmer down, Claire. You are about two seconds away from blowing a gasket" John soothed putting his own coffee down on the side table, swinging his legs to the floor. "I have always loved how you get all red when you're angry. It starts right above your breasts and slowly rises right up to your scalp, kind of like mercury in a thermometer. I always found it strangely arousing."

"John, I am serious."

"I know you are Cherry, I was just trying to give myself a minute to collect my thoughts" he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Tell me if you disagree, but I don't think it is necessary for you to rehash what happened. I mean Christ, Claire, you lost a baby; you were pregnant, something happened and you lost it. There really isn't anything else to tell. I don't blame you; I know by what I have already heard that you were devastated and that you blame yourself, why do I need to know details?"

"So you will stop blaming yourself" she stated, holding his gaze. "Ever since you found out that I had been pregnant, you have been blaming yourself, haven't you?"

"You do realize that I find it just a little bit creepy that you know me so well, right?" John replied, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. "Well let me tell you something, Cherry. I know you pretty damn well myself. For instance, I know that loosing that baby was the hardest thing you have ever gone through. I know that you loved that baby the minute you found out about him." Claire's lips curved into a faint smile.

"You said him; do you really believe it was a boy?"

"Cherry, I believe that you believe that he was a boy and that is enough for me." John answered opening his eyes to look into hers. "I know you Claire, like you say you know me and I know that you would have rather die that loose that little boy. I'm guessing that one way or another your mother found out about the pregnancy and gave you hell."

"She didn't give me hell that day; she beat me" Claire whispered wrapping her arms around her legs. "The doctor's office called because I had forgotten my scarf; Mother had taken the message and realized that Mills, Summers & Davidson, M.D. wasn't my normal gynecologist. She put two and two together and jumped me as soon as I entered the door. We yelled at each other, she slapped me several times, I tried to call you, I tried to call my dad and then I got a hold of Allison. When Allison got here Mother was revving up for another round; she saw Allison and absolutely freaked. Mother blamed her along with all of my other "new" friends, she kept saying that I was ruined and I had shamed the family" a giggle escaped her lips. "You should have seen Allison; she went off on my mother! Allison started pushing me toward the stairs and was yelling at Mother about Mother's love of all things alcoholic and about Daddy's affairs, about Mother's shallowness and snobbery."

John returned her smile, slightly wishing he could have seen Allison in action. There was one truth that became evident to all members of the Breakfast Club not long after their first detention and that was that Allison had become the matriarch for them all. Allison was Andy's anchor to sanity, Brian's medication to anxiety, Claire's grounding force for reality and John's leash to normalcy; and in turn, Allison was no longer ignored.

"She always took care of me whenever my dad got overly affectionate with the booze" John stated "and apparently she became your knight in shining armor."

"Allison had every intention of getting me out of there but Mother had other ideas. Somehow she got herself between us; she pushed me against the banister and turned to Allison, slapping her to the floor. Mother pushed me up the stairs and locked me in my room. To this day, I hate myself for not fighting harder, for letting my fear stop me from getting away from my mother. If I had just stood my ground, Allison wouldn't have gotten hurt and I wouldn't have lost the baby."

"That fear was helping you protect the baby, Claire. That's why you didn't fight back, you were protecting our child and I don't see any reason for you to blame yourself over what happened. You are at fault for not telling me about your mom and I am at fault for not letting you know when things heated up at home. The only person at fault for you loosing the baby is your mother. Didn't Brian say you were at the top of the stairs and in the blink of an eye, lying at the bottom unconscious? Did you throw yourself down the stairs, Claire? Even if you were fighting with your mom and lost your balance, did you intentionally mean to end up like a rag doll at the bottom? You didn't do anything wrong and you shouldn't feel like you did."

"John, why don't you want me to talk to you about this?"

"It's not that I don't want you to talk about it, it's that I don't know how to respond; I don't know what you need from me" he answered, his face etched with concern. "I don't know what role I play in all of this."

Claire placed her cup on the coffee table and rose to her feet. She approached John and laughed when his eyes widened, not knowing what to expect when she crawled into his lap. "This is what I need from you. The role you play is that of a father and you respond however you want to respond. If you are angry, yell; if you are sad, cry; if you want to beat something; let me know and I'll find something for you to hit. What I need from you is for you to listen to me, to hold me, to tell me what you feel. He was not my baby, he was our baby; and while it is six years later, you lost a child and it hurts."

John wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her temple. He listened as Claire told him about her hospital stay and her fight with her mother. She told him how her father finally stopped using Claire to get back at his wife; how he chose to protect her instead. She told him of her parents' divorce, her trip to Europe, her loneliness, how she missed him and the rest of the gang. She let him know that he had never been far from her thoughts and when she returned to the states, she tried to find him. Claire talked about the letters that she had written to both him and the baby and the private little memorial that she had for their son.

"You held a service?" John asked surprised.

"Not in the sense that you are thinking; it was just me and Brian" she replied sighing deeply. "Brian was with me the entire ride to the hospital and until my dad showed up. Allison was pulled away from us by the cops because of her face; apparently Mother busted her nose. Brian stay with me; kept telling me everything was going to be alright and that once we got to the hospital, the doctors would stop the contractions. I told him not to lie to me; told him I felt the blood. He smiled and said that I was right and he wasn't going to lie to me. He promised to stay with me and that he would tell me whatever he could. I was terrified as they put me in the ambulance. I closed my eyes and tried to block out all the noise around me, waiting for the ambulance to start moving. I heard Brian whisper my name as he took a hold of my hand. He told me that the paramedics were positive I had lost the baby and I was hemorrhaging. When we got to the hospital I would be examined and then I would be taken to surgery for a D&C." Claire shuddered and drew n a deep breath. "I don't remember much else until I woke up in the hospital the next afternoon. I didn't see anybody until the next week. Dad had refused the admittance of anyone but him. Brian had snuck in." Claire let out a laugh. "You should have seen him, John. He had dressed up like surgeon to sneak past the rent-a-cop my dad had hired. Daddy was trying to prevent you from seeing me. He didn't know about you, about where you were; Brian told me. He said that Andy and Allison were going to try and see you but that they hadn't had any luck. Apparently you weren't letting anyone visit you. A couple of days after I was released, he came by to see me. I told him what I wanted to do and Brian got everything together. The next day he and I went down to the boat dock and scattered petals on the river. I told our son how much he was loved and wanted by the both of us. I told him that he was going to be missed but that he would always be with us and one day we would finally meet. I knew you didn't know, but I also knew that you would have wanted to keep the baby."

Throughout her story, Claire had felt John's comforting arms and kisses but hadn't had the courage to actually face him. When she did, she saw that his cheeks were wet and he was struggling to keep everything together. John saw the question in his eyes and he nodded.

"A couple of days after our service, Brian showed up again. He sort of panicked because my father had the house in a flurry of packing; actually he got a little pissed. He thought I was leaving and not going to let anyone know; he even said 'Claire, you are pulling a fucking John Bender'. He said only you could fall off the face of the earth while in the Illinois state penal system. I tried not to laugh but couldn't stop myself; that didn't help matters. Anyway, Brian had brought something for the baby. He had spent the past two days in his dad's garage and had made a headstone of sorts but he was so made, he almost threw it at me. We went out to that Japanese maple you and I used to sit under and set up a kind of shrine. Brian started crying, I already was, but he was still very angry. Turns out he was pissed off at you because you had completely cut yourself off from the rest of us."

"I was pissed. I hadn't heard from anyone. I didn't know it but the first couple of nights, the cops wouldn't let anyone in. They were dealing with someone who was 'looking out for my best interest'. To this day, I have no idea who it was" John replied sniffing while unconsciously running his fingers through her hair.

"It was Vernon" Claire whispered, "the cops had called him. He went down to the station and fought with the chief to keep you in the juvenile hall. He was the one who worked with the D.A. to get you transferred. He went to see your mom everyday just to make sure she was going to pull through. Once she was able to talk, he threatened your mother into telling the truth. She was terrified because the cops had found a sizable amount of cocaine under your parent's bed, which your mother denied was hers. They took it as intent to sell but Vernon got the D.A. to brush it under the rug if she agreed to a mandatory 6 month stay in rehab. Vernon laid down the terms to your mom, adding an additional 6 months and she told the D.A. what really happened."

"Vernon?"

"Yep, Vernon. Apparently you and your dad had pissed off to many police officers and they were not in any hurry to properly investigate the case. Vernon applied some pressure and got things taken care of as best he could."

"Vernon! The man didn't care if I lived or died!" John exclaimed.

"Apparently he did. We didn't even find out that he had been involved until his funeral."

"What? He is dead?"

"Yes, about two years ago. It was a really bad car accident. It would seem that Mr. Vernon often did things for his students, but he always did it behind the scenes. Allison attended the funeral…Don't ask." Claire stated rolling her eyes before John could interrupt. "The Chief of Police spoke at his funeral and revealed some of Mr. Vernon's escapades in helping his students. Turns out, you were one of them. A few days after, Andy ran into the chief at his Uncle's garage. He told Andy everything Vernon did to help you."

"Son-of-a-bitch." John whispered. "I never did anything for that man except give him hell. Why would he do it? Why would he help me? I mean I believed what he said in that closet, he scared the shit out of me."

"Maybe he saw what I saw then and what I see now; what you haven't been able to see." Claire stated leaning her forehead against his. "You were a good kid in a very bad situation and he saw that you would become a good man. And you are John; you are a good man."

"Cherry, we haven't seen each other in like six years. How do you know what kind of man I am?"

"You came back to me; after all this time, you came home" Claire whispered. "I have no idea what the future is going to hold for me…for us, but I do know that I am not going to let you go again. I have no idea what you plan to happen between us, but I do know that I still love you and I want, very much, to continue where we left off."

John's chuckle started deep in his chest, causing Claire to feel very stupid for saying so much so soon. John caught her look "Cherry, this is relief. I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at myself. I spent a good deal of time wondering how you were going to react to my reappearance. I kept telling myself that I wasn't coming back so that we could start over but I couldn't stop hoping."

"Thank God! You were laughing and I thought…I didn't know what you were thinking." Claire exclaimed, relief blowing out of her body. "I am so…happy, thankful, excited…I don't know the right word…but you have made me a very happy woman by saying that."

"I intend on keeping you happy for a long, long, long time."


	8. Chapter 8

John sighed as he locked the front door. _What the hell am I going to do? Do I tell Andy and Allison? What the fuck! How could Carrigan do this? I don't care if she is 18, she is still a kid; my kid! How long has this been going on? Is she being safe?_ John wandered through the house as the thoughts raced through his brain. As the questions permeated, he stopped at the four bedrooms on the way to his own. All were accounted for, including Brian and Augusta's son, Riley. Entering his own bedroom, John expected to see his wife in the bed asleep, but it was empty. He was about to enter panic mode when he noticed the bathroom light shinning into the room from the ajar door. John peeked in and saw Claire standing naked in front of the mirror and she didn't look happy.

"Cherry" he asked slipping into the bathroom, causing Claire to jump "you okay? What's wrong honey?"

"Jesus John! You scared the shit out of me!" Claire pulled on her silk robe and turned to her husband. "What are you doing here? You are early."

"Yeah…I had a bit of a shock tonight. I left Griffin in charge and took off."

"I thought he was off tonight, he and Carrigan were going to catch a movie or something." Claire stated walking into their bedroom and began pulling back the covers. "What happened?"

"Let's just say Griffin definitely caught something" he replied watching her stretch out on the bed and then sat next to her. "Do you know who Carrigan is seeing now?"

Claire's face flushed and she avoided eye contact.

"You knew!" John bellowed.

"Shhhh, John, you are going to wake the kids" Claire hissed.

"You knew and you didn't tell me? What the fuck Claire!"

"Allison and I just found out a couple of weeks ago. I was waiting to tell you until I knew how to tell you without you busting a blood vessel" Claire whispered heatedly. "Apparently they have been seeing each other for several months now. The spur of the moment 'girl's night' Carrigan has been dashing off to, were clandestine meetings with Griffin. Once Allison put two and two together, she told me. I confronted Carrigan and she told me everything. They've been seriously dating since Christmas last year."

"Yeah, well I think we can move a step up past dating" John whispered tiredly rubbing his face. "I caught them tonight outside of the loft door. I was going to leave Griffin a note about tomorrow's shipment and there they were. They were kissing and his hands…his hands were some place they should not have been and she was pulling at his…belt. Don't laugh at me Claire, damnit don't do it!"

Claire moved to her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You do realize that she is not your little girl anymore right?"

"I know but does she need to be doing _that_? She has college to start, he has college to finish, and they both have lives to live. Why? Some much could go wrong!"

"Okay, I'm going to do my best here and I want you to remain calm" she replied moving back to the headboard. "She is eighteen now, so we really can't control what she is doing. Griffin is a good boy, he came from good stock. Carrigan is now on birth control and if I'm not mistaken, Allison loaded Griffin up with condoms; I know they are being careful. And last but not least, she waited longer than I did with you. So that means that means that they are both pretty serious about what is going on between them."

"You put her on birth control? Ah, Jesus Christ Claire, I don't want to hear this!"

"You asked and it was the right thing to do; she actually asked me to take her to the doctor. She said that she didn't want to be young and pregnant, like me. I think we have done a very good job of teaching her how to make decisions and I feel sure that she is a smart, confident, young woman" John's brown eyes looking pleadingly at her. "You had best get used to it because we have four more to go, Mister 'I hope they are all girls'. You jinxed us; we could have had boys and this could be some other parents' problem."

John smiled at her last statement, knowing that everything she was saying was true. He turned to face his wife, her smug expression causing him to laugh out loud. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"If it was anybody other than Griffin, she would be locked in a dungeon."

John nodded his head laughing and then stopped himself when he realized Claire hadn't answered his earlier question. "What were you doing when I came in?" he asked slipping off his shoes.

"Oh nothing, just feeling sorry for myself" she mumbled scooting down the bed, rubbing her foot against his back.

"Why?" he asked moving closer to the head of the bed, placing a hand on either side of her waist.

"I was just being silly."

"Uh-huh, sure you were. This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain birthday coming up next week?"

Claire rolled her eyes and could still feel the tears pricking her eyes, "I told you I was being silly. So I'm having trouble dealing with this whole turning forty-five thing. I don't feel old enough to be forty-five but then I look at my body and I see a scared stomach that is starting to pooch more than it should, thighs that are losing their battle with cellulite, breasts that are sagging and a neck that is beginning to show more and more wrinkles everyday."

"Not feeling very pretty are you?" John questioned taking one of her hands into his own. Claire sighed and shook her head in response. "Want to know what I see?"

John ignored her head shake and pulled the belt of her robe, loosing the garment. "I see a neck that is the most delicious neck God ever created" he leaned forward and nuzzled her neck, "I see magnificent breast that nurtured my daughters" his hand moved to gently cup one breast causing Claire to gasp softly. "As for this scared stomach, I see a beautiful home that held my children safe as they grew and I see a battle scar from pregnancy that almost cost you and Katie your lives" he continued tracing a finger over her cesarean scar. "And these thighs," his hand trailing to gently rub the soft skin of her inner thigh, "Cherry, there is nothing better in this world than these thighs wrapped around me when I inside of you. This body, this forty-five year old body, gave me Carrigan, Brenna, Madalynn, Julia and Katie. This body is my life-blood."

John leaned down and captured Claire's lips in a fierce kiss, flaming the fire of desire that was raging through her body. Claire gasped against his lips as his hand moved to the apex of her legs and his fingers entered her. Her thighs closed together, holding his hand still and she gathered his face in her hands.

"Doing this is what caused me to feel un-pretty" she stated smiling softly at John's confused expression. "I was looking at my body and wondering how it was going to bounce back and if I could go through it all again."

"What? Go through what again?"

"The Bender clan is expanding once more; I'm pregnant."

John gaped at his wife pulling away from her, to get a better look at her face. "But I thought the doctor told you it was menopause."

"He said he _thought _I was premenopausal, he wasn't definite, hence the blood test. Dr. Blake called this afternoon and told me that I was pregnant and wants me to come in next week to consider all of our options. I've been staring at myself ever since trying to wrap my head around everything" Claire responded, blinking back tears. "I mean, Carrigan is starting college in a few weeks, Brenna wants to increase her dance classes, Madalynn asked to start taking tennis, Julia has decided that pageants are the only way to go and Katie wants to add softball to her already crammed soccer schedule. We are finally free of diapers, colic, chicken pox and have now moved onto periods, sex, acne and boyfriends. Christ, John, we have an eighteen year old, a fifteen year old, a thirteen year old, an eleven year old and a nine year old! Why in God's name would we want to add another to the mix? And I am about to be forty-fucking-five!"

"I see…I mean I understand what you are saying" John whispered not really sure what to say. "Does this mean…what does this mean Claire?"

"I spent the evening looking at myself, trying to see what you said you see, trying to imagine what I am going to look like after another baby, wondering if you will still think I am desirable and until a few minutes ago, I could not answer any of those questions." She answered and pulled John down for a quick kiss. "Now I know; my breasts are going to sag more, my stomach is going to expand and have a few more stretch marks and my thighs are going to get flabby but none of it matters. You made me realize that none of it matters to you and more importantly, it is not going to effect the growth of this baby. I want this baby, John, God help me but I am ready for the diapers and colic and all of that other mess."

John visibly relaxed, letting go of the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He fiercely kissed Claire, rolling them over to his back. "Are you sure this is what you want? It will be easier this time because I am home more and we don't have to worry about money like we did in the beginning."

"I am positive, as long as you want this as well." Claire replied a tear slipping down her cheek.

"Yes, I want this baby" he answered and stifled a groan. "I do have one request though."

"I will do my best to fulfill it."

"Can we please, please, please have a boy? I don't know if my sixty-four year old heart will be able to handle seeing my youngest daughter all wrapped up and around a guy like I saw Carrigan tonight."

"Easily solved because I want a boy and you…"

"Always give you what you want" John finished kissing his wife again. "Another plus side to this pregnancy is that we don't have to worry about protection for a while."

"Well you know you can always go ask Griffin to save you a few."

John grabbed Claire by her waist, flipped her to her back and pounced.


End file.
